Describe Books During Excellent Women
Original Title: | Excellent Women |
ISBN: | 014310487X (ISBN13: 9780143104872) |
Edition Language: | English |
Characters: | Mildred Lathbury, Helena Napier, Rockingham Napier, Everard Bone, Julian Malory, Winifred Malory, Allegra Gray, Dora Caldicote, William Caldicote, Sister Blatt, Esther Clovis |
Setting: | London, England(United Kingdom) |
Barbara Pym
Paperback | Pages: 231 pages Rating: 3.92 | 10218 Users | 1494 Reviews
Mention About Books Excellent Women
Title | : | Excellent Women |
Author | : | Barbara Pym |
Book Format | : | Paperback |
Book Edition | : | Deluxe Edition |
Pages | : | Pages: 231 pages |
Published | : | December 26th 2006 by Penguin Classics (first published 1952) |
Categories | : | Fiction. Classics. European Literature. British Literature. Humor |
Description In Favor Of Books Excellent Women
Excellent Women is one of Barbara Pym's richest and most amusing high comedies. Mildred Lathbury is a clergyman's daughter and a mild-mannered spinster in 1950s England. She is one of those "excellent women," the smart, supportive, repressed women who men take for granted. As Mildred gets embroiled in the lives of her new neighbors--anthropologist Helena Napier and her handsome, dashing husband, Rocky, and Julian Malory, the vicar next door--the novel presents a series of snapshots of human life as actually, and pluckily, lived in a vanishing world of manners and repressed desires.Rating About Books Excellent Women
Ratings: 3.92 From 10218 Users | 1494 ReviewsDiscuss About Books Excellent Women
This was a strange read, it's a lot to do about nothing. It was just a step into the everyday lives of a group of people that are connected by geography. I almost quit reading it several times but curiosity about the characters pulled me back in. A clean cozy with good narration.I thoroughly enjoyed this book - my first Barbara Pym. Mildred Lathbury is an "excellent woman" - 30's, single, capable, involved in the church, living alone in post war London. As such, she is taken for granted on every page. Do you need someone to work a jumble sale? Are you having a fight with your husband and need someone to write a note to him? Did you move out of the house and you need someone to meet and manage the moving company? Do you have a chicken at home and need someone to cook it?
This review first appeared on my blog Shoulda Coulda Woulda Books.Awhile ago, I asked for recommendations for books that take place in small villages. I'd just done a re-read of Emma and followed that up with An Accomplished Woman, and I was really enjoying the scale of the worlds and the consequent depth of observation that this allowed for- which is why I asked for more. One that came up a couple of times but hadn't made it to the top yet was Excellent Women by Barbara Pym. I wish that I had
Although this wasn't a dashing romantic tale like Jane Eyre or even Pride and Prejudice I thought it was great. It was slow in some areas, but I still found it rich and thrilling.Everyday life and excursions are related with humor and depth. Church gossip and those "delicate" marital concerns that can arise when laundry is aired publicly, were so hilarious to watch as an outsider along with the protagonist. I found it a bit feminist as well...in the sense that not all women need to be married to
Just what I was looking for! This is charming, witty and introduced me to the wonderfully observant Mildred Lathbury. My first book by Pym, but not my last!Find more reviews and bookish fun at http://www.princessandpen.com
Stick on the kettle, put up your feet and settle into your favourite armchair with this cosy, post-WW II English novel. Barbara Pyms world is one of brown-clad spinsters, nuns on bicycles and vicars who live with their sisters. The foreword in my beautiful Virago Modern Classics edition was written by Alexander McCall Smith, and I now see where he got much of his inspiration for his 44 Scotland Street series.The book is the literary equivalent of an English (pre-war) village with its small
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